


How To Be A Heartbreaker

by here4thereylo



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, This Is Where I Leave You (2014)
Genre: Denial of Feelings, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Oral Sex, Orgasm Denial, Phillip is a bit of a douchebag sometimes, Reformed Playboy, Rey is new to town, Smut, no serious injuries, safe sex, small accident
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-14
Updated: 2020-02-07
Packaged: 2020-10-18 02:49:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20631863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/here4thereylo/pseuds/here4thereylo
Summary: Phillip Altman is working in the family business when a new bakery, The Sweet Spot, opens next door. He meets Rey Johnson, the owner, and his life turns upside down. What possibly starts as another conquest turns into...much more. Could this be the girl of his dreams?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I got an idea for a particular moment in this chapter while on my drive to work and it nagged me until I sat down and wrote it! I love This Is Where I Leave You and there is not enough Phillip Altman out there! A BIG thank you to [sunshineflying](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunshineflying)for betaing and my lovely friend TokiDoki for the incredible moodboard! Hopefully you enjoy this cheeky little thing, I don't plan for it to be very long.

Phillip Altman was a new man. He’d been working with his brothers Paul and Judd for the last ten months in the family business, and little by little his siblings started trusting him with more responsibilities. 

He’d gotten his own place in town, and he’d rebounded spectacularly from Tracy’s departure. In fact, he had a date with a new girl, Diane, that night. He was in the sweet spot - he and his ex Chelsea had a standing appointment every Thursday night, and a pretty little flight attendant who he connected with every time she passed through town.

He set out from his downtown apartment, casually swiping through Tinder on his walk to the new bakery in town, conveniently located next door to the family store. It’s only been a week, and he hadn’t met the owner yet, but it quickly became his favorite place for his morning coffee.

This morning was no different. He had Paul and Judd’s orders already, and stepped into the bakery, eyes glued to his phone. He joined the line, and was perfectly content to ignore the world while he waited, until he heard a beautiful British accent and his head snapped up. 

It was like time stopped. At the counter stood the most stunning woman he’d ever laid eyes on. She had a slim, petite figure, her chestnut hair pulled back into a unique style of three buns, likely to keep her hair out of the way while baking. She was talking to the guest at the checkout, a dazzling smile on her face that transported Phillip out of his body. Fuck Chelsea, fuck Diane, fuck the flight attendant. 

He had to have this woman.

A targeted throat clearing from behind him snapped him back into the present. He closed his mouth, not realizing his jaw had dropped, and noticed that there was a gap between him and the person in front of him. He closed the space in the line, and slid his phone back in his pocket, Tinder long forgotten at this point. He drummed his fingers against his thigh, anticipation eating away at him in the seconds that felt like hours that he waited for his turn to order. Finally, there was only one customer ahead of him. As he stood there, staring at this mystery goddess, she looked up from the cash register and met his gaze. Phillip gave her his best smoldering look. He had his patented ways to entice women, and he knew just what would work for this particular angel. She smirked at him, and then did the unthinkable.

She walked away.

He watched her figure retreat to the back of the store just as the man in front of him left the counter with his pastry. He walked up to the counter, determined to somehow salvage his missed opportunity. A short, asian woman greeted him as he approached.

“Two black coffees, and a soy hazelnut latte,” he grunted out. As the woman was ringing him up, he tried to charm some information out of her. “So, that other girl that was up here, I haven’t seen her around. What’s her story?”

The woman, Rose by the name on her nametag, looked up from the register and gave him an appraising look. “That’s Rey,” she replied. “She owns the place. Your total is $10.94.” Bingo. He had a name. Phillip handed over his card, shaking his head. He’d have to talk to Judd about his frou-frou coffee habit. He took the coffees from Rose and left, formulating a plan as he walked out of the shop and next door.

***

Phillip came into the bakery every day that week, trying to stage an opportunity to casually introduce himself to Rey. Each day he left equally disappointed and encouraged, more motivated each day. He was sure she was a little minx, playing hard to get. He saw the way she smirked at him that first day. This was a game of cat and mouse, and he was more than willing to play. 

His date with Diane and the subsequent sex would have been a fun romp, but the whole time he had been distracted by Rey’s smile and lilting accent. He hadn’t bothered to return any of Diane’s texts, his focus solely on this new conquest. He would die before he let Rey slip through his fingers.

Finally, on Friday he had a breakthrough idea. She had predicted his pattern and was noticeably absent every time he came into the bakery for his morning caffeine fix. So, while he still made his morning run - because good God was the coffee the best he’d ever tasted - he knew that would throw her off his scent. He bided his time, waiting until after lunch when he was sure the bakery would die down. 

At 2:30 pm, he figured he’d waited long enough. He oh-so-casually waltzed out of the Altman Sporting Goods store and acted as natural as possible as his feet found their way back into The Sweet Spot. 

The bakery was nearly empty, with only one older gentleman sitting at one of the tables tucking into a piece of pie. His eyes found Rey immediately, and he sauntered up to the counter. She wasn’t looking, wiping down the counter, her delectable pink tongue poking out of the corner of her mouth. Phillip almost lost it then, his brain short-circuiting, thinking of all the places he’d like that tongue to explore. He shook his head, encouraging his brain to climb out of the gutter, and stepped up to the counter. 

“Hey there,” he said, in his best attempt at casual curiosity. “Fancy seeing you here.” 

She stopped her cleaning and looked up to him, first in surprise. When she recognized his face, a cheshire cat grin appeared on her face. She threw her rag off to the side and tucked a stray hair behind her ear and walked to the register.

“Hey yourself,” she responded, grin never leaving her face. “What can I get for you today?”

“Your phone number for starters would be great.” 

Phillip winked at her, casually leaning across the counter onto his elbows so that he was closer to Rey, but not too close to scare her away. 

Rey rolled her eyes. “We don’t even know each other,” she countered, turning away from him to rearrange some pastries in the display case.

“I’m Phillip,” he said, not missing a beat, “and now we’re not strangers anymore. Plus, isn’t that what exchanging numbers is for? Getting to know each other?” 

He smiled at her, shifting his weight onto one arm as he continued to lean on the counter. With his free hand, he found a little display of business cards in front of the register and plucked one out, flipping it around in his fingers. “Rey Johnson, eh? Looks like I have your number right here.” 

He wiggled the business card, looking to Rey for a reaction. She was chewing on the inside of her cheek, arms crossed but amusement in her hazel eyes.

“I suppose I should be thankful you at least asked for it before finding a way to get it,” she teased. She looked past him, noticing a middle-aged woman had stepped in line behind Phillip, patiently waiting. “Now, some people don’t have time to sit and flirt all day, did you need any actual food or beverages before I shoo you out of here?” 

She was unable to keep a smile from her face. His heart fluttered a little bit at her smile, mixed with confusion. Girls didn’t have this effect on him. He had this effect on women, not the other way around. 

He cleared his throat and straightened up. He tore his eyes away from Rey’s and surveyed the display case of pastries. He pointed at random, “I’ll have one of those.” 

She rang him up, handed him the pastry, and gave him one last smile before making an actual shooing motion with her arms, waving him away.

Phillip stepped out back onto the street and took a bite out of the chocolate croissant he bought without paying attention to what he was ordering. _ Damn _ , he thought to himself. _ This is the best thing I’ve ever eaten _. 

He walked back into the shop next door, ignoring an exasperated look from Paul that clearly read _ where have you been _ and made his way to the office in the back. He sat down in the chair and pulled out his phone and Rey’s business card. 

He quickly dismissed the notifications he had waiting on his phone - two texts from Chelsea and one from Diane - and went to his iMessage app. He keyed in Rey’s number and started a new text. He stared at the screen for a long time, double checking his words, and chomped another bite out of his croissant. Finally, satisfied with his opening line, he hit send.

** _ <Phillip> _ ** _ Hey, gorgeous. If you had plans tonight, cancel them because I’m taking you out. _

Phillip was surprised he didn’t get an answer right away. In fact, he spent three minutes just sitting in the office staring at his phone. Nothing. He double checked the number on the business card, making sure he’d entered the right number and not the landline to the bakery. He assured himself it wasn’t a big deal, and tried to focus on work. 

Paul had him doing some of the bookkeeping these days, which was boring as fuck. Phillip has said as much, several times, but Paul insisted he learn this if he was ever going to be an equal partner in the business. So, he sat, trying to look at the receivables agings while glancing at his phone every 20 seconds. Finally, after an excruciating five minutes, his phone dinged. He reached for it instinctively, but then made himself stop, hand halfway to unlocking his phone. _ Be chill, man. Guys like you don’t respond immediately. Make her sweat it out like she sweat you out, _he thought to himself. He stood up, leaving his phone on the desk, and walked out of the office.

It lasted two minutes. He made one lap around the store, waving a distracted hello to Horry behind the checkout, before desire won out and he raced back to the office. He picked up his phone and was disappointed by the response waiting for him.

** _ <Rey>_ ** _ Who is this? _

** _ <Phillip>_ ** _ It’s Phillip. I made that great of an impression huh >.< _

** _ <Rey>_ ** _ Phillip…. _

** _ <Phillip>_ ** _ Yeah, that’s me. Dashing good looks, sucker for a chocolate croissant? _

** _ <Rey>_ ** _ Ohhhh yes. How could I forget. Hi Phillip :) _

His stomach did a somersault. That smiley face had to be a good thing, right?

** _ <Phillip>_ ** _ I knew you couldn’t forget me :) _

** _ <Phillip>_ ** _ So, tonight? _

** _ <Phillip>_ ** _ I have the perfect plans for us ;) _

A _ triple _ text? Since when had Phillip become a triple texter? He was going out of his normal methods to get with Rey, but he knew it would be worth it. He watched the little conversation bubbles appear and disappear several times before he got his answer.

** _ <Rey>_ ** _ I’m in. Meet me in front of the bakery at 7pm? _

** _ <Phillip>_ ** _ It’s a date. _

Phillip smiled down at his screen. She was certainly a feisty one. He liked that she called the shots. He was very much looking forward to where this night was going to go.

***

At seven o’clock sharp, Phillip walked up to the front steps of The Sweet Spot in his favorite plaid shirt and his best jeans. As he approached, he watched Rey exit the bakery and lock up. She was even more stunning now than she had been each of the other times he’s seen her. She had on high-waisted black jeans and a red short-sleeved crop top. Her hair was down instead of its usual three-bun style and Phillip felt the breath leave his body in one big whoosh. This woman was going to be the death of him. Her red lipstick matched her top exactly and as she locked up the bakery he got a great look at her perfectly peachy ass. 

She turned around to face him head on and he immediately noticed a smear of frosting on her face. She smiled at the sight of him, the dazzle turned up to full wattage. He returned the smile, and walked up to her, closing the gap so there was very little space between them.

“Hold on, you’ve got something on your face.” He licked his thumb, and slowly traced his thumb over the frosting smudge. She looked up at him, mouth slightly agape, clearly not expecting the touch but not shying away. He pulled his thumb away from her face, and brought it to his mouth, never breaking eye contact as he sucked the frosting off. He released his thumb with a soft _ pop _sound, and smirked in satisfaction when he saw a slight shiver pass through Rey. He stepped back and extended his hand to her. “Shall we?” 

She took his hand, and they began walking down the block a little bit. He led them to his Porsche, opened the passenger side door for her, and once they were settled he drove off.

The date turned out to be a lot of fun. Phillip had taken her to a nice, quiet restaurant where they were able to talk and get to know each other. He made her laugh several times, which was the most musical sound that had graced his ears. In his opinion, they were _ really _hitting it off, and soon their dinner arrived. Rey was eating with a voracious appetite, which somehow turned Phillip on even more. This was someone who wasn’t afraid of eating in front of a guy, and that was not something he could say for any of his other companions.

As they finished up dessert, he gave her a mischievous smile.

“So...wanna get out of here? Come back to my place for a nightcap?” he suggested, walking his fingers across the table to grab her hand, which had been laying near her fork. 

She allowed him to take her hand, but instead of answering right away, lifted her wine glass with her other hand, swirled the glass around, and as she took a sip, winked at him. He knew she was being a tease again, and he fucking loved it. He quickly paid the check, and they headed back to the car.

She was _ really _being a tease. Once they started driving, her left hand landed on his knee and started wandering up and down his thigh. He couldn’t think straight, it would be a miracle if they got to his place in one piece. Every once in awhile she would squeeze his thigh slightly, and he would swerve the car.

“You have to wait, sweetheart, we’re almost there,” he panted. 

He was half-hard as it is, and he had a feeling she knew it. She giggled at his desperate request for patience, but acquiesced. She smiled at him again and then turned to look out the window.

Not soon enough, they were at his apartment building. They both rushed out of the car, making a beeline for the elevator, Phillip practically dragging Rey along by the hand. When they got in the elevator, he wasted no time pushing her against the back wall, holding her waist with one hand and snaking the other to cradle her head as he smashed his lips to hers. The kiss was heated, passionate, and Rey gave as good as she got. Their tongues battled, swirling around, neither one being soft or sweet. Phillip’s hand started to creep up from its spot at her hip, and had just reached the edge of her crop top when the ding of the elevator indicated they had arrived on his floor.

They stepped out of the elevator, lips swollen and had gotten one step down the hall when Phillip lifted Rey over his shoulder, her head landing around the middle of his back. She squeaked when he picked her up, and then took that opportunity to grab his butt. He barked out a laugh, and twisted his head to look behind him. “Eager, are we?” he joked. He kept walking, despite her protests.

Once they got into his apartment he set her down, but didn’t give her a chance to orient herself before his mouth was back on hers. Their kiss was a perfect blend of give and take; he would take control, and then she would take it back, biting his lower lip in an act of dominance. He walked her backwards through the apartment, ignoring their surroundings until he had her in his bedroom. If he were being honest with himself, he had been dreaming of getting Rey here since the second he laid eyes on her in the bakery a week ago. 

They broke apart, sizing each other up and undressing the other with their eyes. Rey stepped up to him, so close her breasts were touching his chest, and he groaned. She palmed him over his jeans, squeezing slightly, which caused Phillip to tip his head back and roll his eyes back into his head.

“You’re so hard already,” she marveled, switching from palming him to running one finger up and down his length over his jeans. “And big. What are you hiding under here?” 

She looked up and gave him a devilish grin. He couldn’t respond, he had to kiss her again.

As their tongues danced in a fiery tango, his hand covered her breast swiped his thumb across her peak, causing it to pebble through her shirt. At the same time, her hands came up to undo his pants, unzipping his fly with a tantalizing slowness. Then, in one swift move, she broke apart from his kiss, yanked his pants down, and fell to her knees.

With a deft hand, she released his cock from his briefs, and Phillip stared down at her in wonder. Who was this girl, and how was she so perfect? She kissed the very tip of his cock, then looked up at him to see his adoring face. She licked him then, from base to tip, and took him in her mouth. He hissed, believing that he was in Nirvana with the feel of her pretty little mouth on his cock. She bobbed up and down, every once in awhile swirling her tongue around the tip. He’d be lying if he said he hadn’t dreamt of this exact scenario after seeing her stick her tongue out in concentration that first day at The Sweet Spot.

And she really was hitting his sweet spot. His mind was lost to ecstasy as she continued to take him, her hand now pumping in rhythm with her mouth to cover where her mouth couldn’t reach.

“That’s it baby. Oh my god it feels so good. Don’t stop, oh your pretty little mouth feels so good on my cock,” Phillip babbled as Rey continued her attentions. 

She lightly dragged her teeth along his length, the pleasure-pain taking Phillip closer to the edge. She hummed as she bobbed up and down, and Phillip knew he would do anything in order to endure this sweet torture over and over again.

“I’m close baby…” he managed to choke out. 

Then, the unexpected.

Rey released his cock with a loud smacking sound, looked up at him, and smirked. She stood up, daintily wiping her mouth with her finger to clean up the mess. Then she straightened her crop top and started backing away.

“What…what’re you doing?” he asked, brain still fuzzy and unfocused from the best blowjob he’d ever received. 

“I don’t mess around with fuckboys, so you don’t get to come. See you around, Phillip.” 

Rey winked and walked out the bedroom door. Phillip stood there, his cock hard and weeping, while he heard the door open and shut from Rey’s exit.

Fuck. She blue-balled him. 

_ Fuck. _He had it bad for her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where Phillip tries to figure out what went wrong and Rey denies all feelings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this took so long! I got swept up in work (it gets really busy from time to time) and it turns out I write slow too! Hopefully people are still here for some Rey and Phillip action ;)
> 
> Thank you Tasha for the cheeky and wonderful moodboard!! Lol I love that they are all from "How-to" articles LOL.
> 
> Chapter is un-beta'd so I apologize for any mistakes!

It had been four days since his earth-shattering date with Rey. He had, naturally, masturbated after she left, but it paled in comparison to how her mouth felt or how he imagined her pussy would feel. He had texted her a few times over the weekend, trying to carry on with casual bravado, but she didn’t respond to any of them. He wanted to at least know how he’d fucked up before he even had the chance to fuck up.

_ I don’t mess around with fuckboys. _ That sentence kept swirling around and around in his head all weekend. What the hell did she mean? They hadn’t talked about past relationships at dinner, nor had there been any mention of exclusivity. She was new to town, how did she know about his love life? And what did it matter what he did with other women?

He went through the motions of his daily life. It was the weekend, which he normally spent either with a new girl from Tinder or at his mother’s house. But this weekend, he didn’t feel like either of those things. He moped around his apartment, watching true crime shows and eating his weight in cereal. By the time Sunday afternoon rolled around, he was bored and angry with himself for being in such a funk.

He was the epitome of the casual fling. The master of non-monogamy. How did this woman, in the span of nine days, unravel his very being? He couldn’t stop thinking about her. Her glimmering hazel eyes, her thousand-watt smile, the fact that she could take what she dished out. Surely he didn’t have real feelings for her. Certainly he was only dwelling on it because she had teased him and turned him away. This was a matter of pride, not of the heart.

His mom called him in the middle of the afternoon, asking why he hadn’t come around that weekend like he normally did. He made up some lame excuse about feeling under the weather and continued to wallow in self-pity. This wasn’t like him; he wasn’t the type to pine over a girl. He spent the rest of the day in a fog. He jerked off to the memory of her mouth around his cock, his hand a poor substitute. After he cleaned himself off, made some dinner, and sat down, he turned on Netflix to try to get his mind off the only girl that ever made him question his lifestyle.

His phone buzzed, and his hand moved so fast to snatch it up, hopeful for a text from Rey. Instead, it was from Betsy, the flight attendant. Phillip rolled his eyes back in his head before opening the text, forgetting that it was her weekend in town.

** _<Betsy>_ ** _ Hey sweets, I’m passing through LaGuardia - you around? _

Phillip groaned and tossed the phone back onto the couch cushion, not even bothering to respond. This was unlike him, to turn down an easy, noncommittal lay.

He had to do something to rectify this situation. This was beyond looking for a fun romp in the sack. He had never felt so strongly about anyone before, not even Tracy. He wished he could call her, ask her for advice on what was going on. He knew that was out of the question, though.

So he did the next best thing. He took out his phone and texted his sister.

***

Rey was in the back office halfway into the next week, settling up the payables from the week before when a knock came at the door.

“Come in,” she sounded off tiredly. Owning this bakery had been her dream ever since she was a kid, and now that she had finally started fresh in a new town, her dream had become a reality. The sound of Rose opening the door and entering the space broke her out of her reverie, leaning against the corner of the desk in the small office.

“Rey, I think you’ve been hiding back here long enough. He hasn’t come in today, I think you’re safe.” 

Rey and Rose had known each other since freshman year of college, when they were paired up by the university as roommates in the dorms. They had bonded immediately, quickly becoming attached at the hip, and Rose had wanted to be a part of Rey’s dream. Rey had not had a lot of people stick with her during her life, and sometimes still felt her friendship with Rose was too good to be true. They vowed to go into business together, and moved to Long Island to start this adventure together. They shared everything, including stories of Rey’s recent sexual escapades. Rey shook her head, a small smile crossing her face at Rose’s comment.

“I’m not _ hiding _, Rose. I’m just...letting the dust settle.” She busied herself with the paperwork, trying to end the conversation before it began, when Rose snorted.

“Bullshit. You like this guy!” 

“If I liked him Rose, why would I be hiding from him?”

“AHA! So you _ are _ hiding from him.” Rey looked up at Rose then, completely exasperated. How did Rose always seem to know everything? 

“Okay, maybe I _ am _ hiding from him, is that so bad? He’s nothing but bad news anyway.” 

“How do you even know that? We’ve barely been here two months.”

“Remember that first day he was in here? After he left and I came back to the register, some woman came up and told me everything. All the girlfriends, the rotating rolodex of women. I knew I had to teach him a lesson on behalf of women everywhere.” 

Rose snorted. “_ A lesson _. Right. And yet, here you are. Hiding from him,” she reiterated.

“Well...he does work at that sporting goods shop next door. I’m sure it didn’t even work, probably just texted another girl after I left to finish getting him off.” Rey reshuffled the papers at the desk, organizing an invisible mess.

“Do I have to spell it out for you?” Rose cocked her hip out and placed her hand on it. “That dork has been in here every day, like normal. He scans the whole shop for you. He visibly deflates every time he doesn’t find you. Orders his coffee in a resigned voice. The other day he asked me if you still worked here. I reminded him that you still, in fact, own the place. So that probably damaged his ego even further because he realized you were avoiding him.”

Rey chewed her lip at that thought. She had seen the texts he’d sent the next day after their tryst, but she assumed it had been...empty. Compulsory. That he just wanted an explanation or to try to convince her they should repeat the activity. When Rey didn’t respond to Rose, her spunky yet wise best friend spoke up again. 

“Whatever you did to him, he’s got it bad for you. And you’ve got it bad for him, whether you see it or not.” Rose exited the office and went back to the counter. 

Rey sat back for a few more minutes, reflecting on her conversation with Rose. She could understand how he had so much luck with women. He was quick-witted, always knowing the right thing to say. He was definitely one of the most attractive guys she had ever been out with, and his dick...well. To say it was impressive was an understatement. How it felt to take him in her mouth, needing her hand to supplement his ample length…

She heard a crashing sound from the front of the store that broke her out of her reverie, and she shook the thoughts out of her head. He was not worth her time, she thought to herself as she stood to go help Rose behind the counter.

***

Phillip bounded up the steps to his sister’s house, nearly tripping over the Little Tykes Cozy Coupe toy car strewn across the walkway to the front door. He raised his hand to knock when the front door swung open, an exasperated Wendy ushering him in.

“Barry’s gone on another work trip and I’ve had it up to here with the kids, it’s like they’ve taken crazy pills and are tormenting me,” she yells at Phillip as she stalks away from him to the kitchen while he stands in the foyer, taking off his shoes. Wendy had recently come back to town, Barry’s job allowing them to move to be closer to family. Phillip toed off his shoes, moving into the kitchen where Wendy was pouring herself a generous helping of Riesling. Wendy made to move to pour Phillip a glass, but he waved her off.

“You know I hate that shit. Scotch?” He asked her as she put the bottle back in the fridge.

“You can have Riesling or Bud Light,” Wendy countered, a playful smirk crossing her face. Phillip rolled his eyes, and Wendy handed him the Bud Light as they made their way to the living room to sit down.

“Now, what was it that you were so desperate to talk about.” Phillip knew better than to be surprised by Wendy’s bluntness. She had practically raised him, and could tell his moods and intentions from just one look. Phillip blew out a breath, took a swig of his beer, and started.

“So, there’s a girl.”

“There’s always a girl. Several, in fact.”

“No, Wendy. There’s _ a girl. _”

Wendy perked up at that. “Not another therapist, I hope.” She took a swig of her wine.

“No, actually. She owns that new bakery next door to the shop. I managed to get her out on a date, thinking I had it in the bag--” he could have sworn he heard Wendy mutter the word “pig” under her breath as she rolled her eyes at this statement, “--and she totally flipped it on me! Left me hanging and now I can’t get her out of my head.” He took another large gulp of his drink, effectively emptying half the bottle in one fell swoop.

“She sounds too good for you.”

“Yeah, Wendy, I know that much. What am I supposed to _ do _ about it?”

Wendy didn’t answer immediately. She swirled around her wine. The two of them could hear hollering upstairs, followed by thundering footsteps overhead.

“OI KIDS! DON’T MAKE ME COME UP THERE!” Wendy screamed at the staircase.

“Jesus Wendy, can they even hear you from up there?”

“I don’t know, probably not,” Wendy shrugged and took another sip of wine. “Listen, bud. Sounds like she already knows about your reputation. So if you really want more than just sex with this woman, you probably need to _ talk _ to her about it. Her, not me.”

Phillip tried to interrupt, but Weny raised a finger up and he fell silent as she took another drink of her wine. “I’m so happy to see my baby brother growing up. Actual feelings! For an actual, appropriate woman!”

“I don’t know why I come to you for anything,” Phillip smiled and shook his head.

“I’m the voice in your head, as you so kindly shared with me,” Wendy said as she returned his smile.

“Yeah, and now you won’t let me live it down.” Phillip downed the rest of his beer and stood up. He heard another rumble and crash from upstairs, and Wendy visibly rolled her eyes and stood up to join him. “I better get going, I felt my ass buzz twelve times. I bet Paul’s wondering where I went.”

“You’re supposed to be at work and you just drank a beer?! Paul is going to fire you one of these days I swear,” Wendy gave his shoulder a playful shove and took the empty bottle from him. “Go on, get outta here before I rat you out. And remember. Wouldn’t kill you to clear the air with her if she really does mean something to you.”

Phillip left Wendy’s house turning her words over in his mind. _ If she really does mean something to you _. He hadn’t quite defined it that way, but as he got in his car and drove back to the shop, he couldn’t help but wonder if she was exactly right. He couldn’t get Rey out of his head, and he was out of his element being ghosted by the most intriguing woman he’d ever encountered. He figured he owed it to himself to at least try to clear the air with her, explore the possibility of them turning over a new leaf.

At the next red light, Phillip chanced a look at his phone. As he expected, there were several increasingly antagonistic texts from Paul about his whereabouts, and what he’d do if he wasn’t there in the next twenty minutes. Phillip rolled his eyes - his brother could be so dramatic. He went to respond when he heard a loud honk from somewhere behind him; the light had turned green so Phillip threw the phone on the passenger seat and continued on his way.

He managed to snag a parking space right in front of The Sweet Spot. He shut the car off, taking a minute to take advantage of his vantage point and watch the bakery through its front wall of windows. He could see how empty it was in there, the late afternoon slump as they got ready to close up shop. The woman he had been seeing more frequently, Rose, was wiping down tables, her back to him. Rey, that beautiful, enigmatic Rey, was counting the money in the till. It was the first time he’d seen her since that night, and it was like seeing her for the first time all over again.

He made up his mind in that moment. He knew she was there, and what was Paul really going to do if he was an extra ten minutes late getting back? This was his chance to set things right and start fresh. He needed to do whatever he could, to get her to give him another chance.

He got out of the car, finally remembering to lock his car for once, and started walking to the front door of the bakery. He saw Rose turn around from the table she was cleaning, turning to face his direction. He saw Rey bite her lip in concentration, his eyes glued to her little pink mouth. He saw--

***

“What was that noise?” Rey asked, not looking up from the cash drawer. She had eighty percent of it counted; if she broke focus now, she’d lose her place and would have to start all over again. 

“Uh, Rey, you _ might _ want to come look at this.”

Rey huffed out a breath, and jotted down the number in her head and laid the uncounted money off to the side so she wouldn’t lose her place. She looked up, seeing Rose was standing at the window, staring out in alarm. She came around to the front of the store, curious to what Rose was looking at. When she came up beside her friend and business partner, she finally saw the commotion outside.

Phillip was on the ground, tangled with a guy fully dressed in a spandex bike suit, Phillip’s leg twisted up in the wheel of the bike and his arm bent at a funny angle.

“Oh my god!” Rey squeaked out and ran outside, yelling back at Rose to call 9-1-1. She came up on the mess of limbs, kneeling down by Phillip’s head. Despite the fact that he hissed in pain every time he tried to move, he tilted his head up to Rey and pierced her with his best smoldering gaze.

“Hey gorgeous.”

“You’ve really got to stop calling me that.” Rey couldn’t believe he could flirt at a time like this. “Why weren’t you paying attention to where you were walking? You work at a bike shop for crying out loud, people are riding up and down this road all the time.”

“I was too busy lookin’ at you sweetheart.” 

“Okay, you’re loopy now from the pain.” Rey cupped his face in her hands and held his head steady. “Rose called 9-1-1, just...don’t move. Do you have a concussion?”

“The fuck if I know,” Phillip croaked, trying to move and wincing in pain.

“You’re fine then. Sit still, don’t move.” Rey stood up and moved to check on the biker, talking to him for a minute. Apparently he had rang his bike bell and yelled to “that asshole” to move, and even tried to swerve out of the way to avoid the impending collision. Rey listened attentively, nodding when needed and sympathizing with the biker, glancing over at Phillip every few seconds.

After about ten minutes, the police and an ambulance showed up. They assessed the scene, took statements from Rey and Rose, and loaded the biker and Phillip up in the ambulance and took them away.

Rey looked on as the ambulance drove away. Maybe she had been too harsh on him. He apparently had a one-track mind when it came to her, maybe she should at least be cordial to him moving forward.

Her thoughts were still jumbled as the ambulance turned the corner and out of sight, the uncounted money in the till long forgotten.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey and Phillip begin to make amends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was written on my phone in various stages of my vacation, so THANK you to Kaybohls for making it sound coherent. Fettuccine_alfreylo made the wonderful moodboard!!!
> 
> I am back from vacation and have an update! I have fallen down the multiple WIP hole so I am attempting to keep regular updates for all!
> 
> I hope you enjoy :D There's....well a lot of smut. I'm still very new to writing smut so honestly let me know if it's any good ha!

Rey paced back and forth in front of the door to the hospital room she knew Phillip was in. She kept waffling on whether or not to go in and actually see him. She had no business to be there, truthfully; they weren’t anything to each other. Still, she felt a pang of guilt that it was her fault; he had been outside her store, coming to talk to her when all this happened.

Finally, a nurse walked by and patted Rey kindly on the shoulder. “Just go in there, honey. You realize he can see your silhouette through the curtained window, right? He’s probably wondering what’s taking you so long.” The nurse jerked her head in the direction of the very obvious window in front of Rey, and she grimaced.

“Thanks ma’am.” She muttered, turning back to the door. With a large breath in and out, she grabbed the handle of the door and made her way in.

Phillip was posted up in the bed located in the center of the room. His left arm was in a cast, a bandage over his left calf, and his eyes were on Rey’s as she advanced into the room, careful to stay towards the perimeter.

“I won’t bite, gorgeous.” He quipped, noticing her exact strategy. 

She gave up, rolling her eyes and taking a seat in the chair next to the head of the bed. He watched her movements, making moony eyes at her as she sat down.

“How much pain medication do they have you on?” She asked.

“Just some ibuprofen. I had the good stuff when they were putting it in the cast, but switched me over a couple hours ago.”

”Good, that’s good.” Rey trailed off, looking around the room. Hospital rooms were always so cold, sterile. “Look, I’m sorry.”

Phillip fixed her with a penetrating gaze, confusion flickering across his features. “What for?” He asked, shifting slightly so that he didn’t have to crane his neck as much to see her. “I was the one not looking where I was walking.”

“Yes, but, you wouldn’t have been walking there had I not been avoiding you,” she countered.

“Ah, well. It is what it is. What, you feel guilty?” 

Rey stiffened, not wanting to admit to anything, but nodded briefly in affirmation.

“I know how you can fix it,” Phillip teased. Rey lifted a single eyebrow, looking down at him questioningly. “You could kiss and make it better.”

Rey barked out a laugh, throwing her head back in amusement. 

“In your dreams.” She quipped back, and he lifted up the corner of his mouth in a small chuckle. Naturally, as her laughter died down, she couldn’t help but lower her eyes to his mouth, the thought of kissing him now in her mind.

Phillip noticed where her gaze had fallen, and bit his lower lip to tease her further. Her lips parted slightly at his actions, the tension crackling in the air between them. Had Rey not been sitting right next to his bad arm, he would have grabbed her and pulled her down for a kiss right then and there. Instead, Rey cleared her throat and the tension cleared.

“Listen, Rey…” Phillip trailed off, picking at the frayed edge of his blanket with his right hand, “I was coming to talk to you that day. I wanted to...apologize, set things straight, whatever. I don’t know what you’ve heard about me—”

He was cut off as the door opened and a nurse came in to do her rounds and check his vitals. It was a different nurse than the one Rey saw in the hallway, and this one was not as kind. She gave Rey a pointed stare to indicate that she was intruding.

“Well, I guess I should get going,” Rey cleared her throat, secretly relieved they were interrupted from having a heavy conversation. “Send me a text when you get discharged? I’ll probably answer this time.” She reached over and clasped his right hand in hers, leaning down to kiss him on the cheek. She straightened up, not missing the look of mild wonder on his face as she backed away. With a nod to the nurse and a wink back at Phillip, she turned and left the hospital room.

***

Rey was wiping down the counter at closing time a few days later, dancing to a “squeaky clean” playlist she found on Spotify a few weeks ago and was blasting through the Bluetooth speakers. She found that it made the closing side work go much faster when she could occupy her mind. She did a little hop, facing away from the front door and wiggling her hips to the music as she worked when she heard the telltale tinkling of the door. 

“We’re closed!” She called behind her, not turning around. 

She heard no movement or response, so she straightened up and turned around - then snorted inelegantly. 

Phillip was standing there, arm in a sky blue cast, hair mussed, and a single rose clenched in his teeth. He was giving her a sinful look which she couldn’t take seriously due to his over the top gesture. He sauntered over to her, slowly, in an attempt to be sensual, which made her giggle louder. He was a few steps from her still when he ripped the rose out of his mouth with his good hand and sighed. 

“Why are you laughing? I’m trying to woo you.”

“Your first problem is that you’re using the word ‘ _ woo _ .’ Are we back in the late 1800s?” Rey couldn’t contain her snicker. 

“You’ve totally ruined my  _ grand romantic gesture _ , you know that right?” He walked the remaining steps to Rey, handing her the rose. She relented her teasing, accepting the rose and lifting it to her nose to inhale its floral aroma. 

“Uh, okay?” Was all she said after smelling the flower, her face full of mirth. 

“Man, you are making this impossible,” he brought his right hand to his face, rubbing his eyes in mock exhaustion. 

Rey appraised him, his frustration at his failure evident. 

“You’ve...never had to work to get a girl before, have you?” 

He let his hand drop back down to his side. “Is it that obvious?”

Rey giggles again, twirling the rose around between her fingers. “First piece of advice, don’t strut in like a flamenco dancer and use words like woo.” She turned around, walking behind the counter to pull out a glass to set the flower in. She felt his eyes track her movements as she walked away from him, only turning back to face him once she had filled up the glass with water, placing the gift in its makeshift vase right next to the cash register. 

“And what’s the second?” 

He advanced towards her again, and she couldn’t keep down the butterflies fluttering in her stomach. This was different than before. Earnest. No gimmicks. He crossed the threshold so he was now behind the counter. 

“No customers back here…” she trailed off as he backed her up against the counter, eliminating almost all the empty space between them. His good arm came up to tuck a stray piece of hair behind her ear, hand then coming to rest on the nape of her neck. 

“The second piece of advice, Rey? I want to get it right.”

“I...uh.” She was flustered by his closeness, by his scent, by the fact that he was everywhere. “I didn’t think of a second thing, actually…” she responded, her voice breathless and barely above a whisper. 

Phillip licked his lips, eyes flitting to her mouth, which parted as she watched him. 

“I think the second thing is,” he closed the already infinitesimal gap between them, “is that I kiss you now.”

Before she could respond, his lips crashed into hers, swallowing the sound of surprise Rey emitted. 

She remembered their kiss from the vengeance date, as she had taken to calling it. This kiss was gentler, yet more passionate. She could feel real emotion, from both of them. His tongue teased the seam of her mouth, and she gasped at the contact and let him in. 

Their tongues chased each other, Rey bringing her hands to circle his waist to try to bring him even closer. Upon that movement, she felt the hard cast push uncomfortably into her stomach, effectively ruining the moment and breaking them apart. 

“Sorry,” Phillip breathed, gesturing to his arm. “I got into a walking accident trying to talk to a pretty girl.”

She laughed again, bring her hand to her forehead to try to clear her mind from the fuzziness he had created. 

“Why can’t I get rid of you?” She asked him. He looked incredibly befuddled by her question that came out of left field. 

“What on earth do you mean? I was there a minute ago, I know you liked that as much as I did.” 

“That’s exactly my problem! I’ve been warned about you, Phillip. Your Rolodex of women. You were just supposed to get a little bit of rejection, a taste of your own medicine. And now…” she stammered. “Now I want to kiss you again.” 

“Rey. Surely you’ve realized how I feel. Yes, I...well I won’t dwell on that. But. I’ve never cared before. I care now. You’re different.”

Rey scoffed at that. “I’m not like other girls, is that what it is? That line is very over-used these days, it doesn’t work anymore.” She turned to put more space between them when Phillip put his good hand on her waist, his eyes pleading. She begrudgingly settled back against the counter, noticing he didn’t remove his hand when she agreed to not move. She hated to admit to herself that the touch was a comfort. 

“Maybe it’s a line, but what I mean is...” he stuttered as he rubbed soft circles against her hip bone,No one has ever consumed my every thought before. I see memes on the internet and I want to show you. I want to make fun of the dumb customers that come into the shop together. I want to pick you up when you close the shop and listen to you talk about your day. I’ve never wanted that before. I picture that all the time. I can’t sleep.”

A furious blush colored Rey’s cheeks. No one had ever said anything like this to her. She’s had boyfriends, sure, but this was basically a declaration of love happening in front of her, and she had never experienced anything like that. 

“How do—“ she cleared her throat, her voice practically nonexistent. “How do I know once you get what you want, you won’t just leave.”

“Rey. You ensnared me from the minute I laid eyes on you. I’ve made a fool out of myself trying to get your attention and your time. I’m not going anywhere.” 

Rey bit her lip, evaluating everything he had just said. When she initially agreed to go out with him, this was not the outcome she had expected. Had he been everything that woman said in the shop that day, he wouldn’t be in front of her right now. To be fair, he had some skeletons in his closet, but this man was completely different than who she had built him up to be in her mind. 

She wasn’t a fool; she knew a woman couldn’t change a man and she wouldn’t try to change Phillip. But she had a feeling that he already had. She surged up, swung her arms around his neck, and snagged his lips with hers. 

This kiss was heated, sparks flying between them. His hand went from its spot on her hip to circling her whole waist—holy cow he was huge, he could wrap one arm all the way around her waist—and lifted her up with only his good arm. She didn’t mind if the cast pressed into her chest this time, wanting to get as close as possible. 

After a minute, he set her back down on her feet, releasing her mouth as well as they both caught their breath. 

“So, you’ll be my girlfriend?” He asked hopefully. She smiled, a bit of mischief passing over her face. 

“On a trial basis.” She winked at him. 

He rolled his eyes, but chuckled and nodded his acceptance. 

He kissed her again, unable to keep his hands off her. 

“This damn cast. I swear I would take you right here if I could.” They came apart briefly for him to lament, before he claimed her mouth again with an unrelenting attack on her mouth. She groaned into his mouth at his words. His hand continued to roam, coming up to caress her breast, tweaking her nipple through the fabric of her shirt. 

She wanted to rest her hands on his chest, clutch his shirt, but the cast was preventing that, so she snaked her arms around and put her hands in each of his back pockets, pulling him closer. 

They finally broke apart for a breath, Phillip’s mouth moving to mouth at her neck. He was so hunched over to reach the skin of her neck, she giggled and pushed him away, taking pity on him. 

He looked upset for a second, until he realized this wasn’t a rejection. His eyes lit up, an idea obviously coming to mind. His hand moved to the button on his jeans, moving to undo them when Rey put both her hands on top of his, arresting his progress. 

“Whoa whoa whoa there, cowboy. No fucking. Not here. Not with you in a cast. Not yet.” 

“Fair enough, gorgeous. I was thinking though...what about a repeat from last time?” He waggled his eyebrows teasingly. “But this time you don’t leave.”

Rey laughed, kissing him again, a quick, chaste peck. 

“What, you’re the only one that gets to benefit?” She teased, a wicked gleam in her eye. 

“What? Oh. Ohhh. I didn’t—“ he stumbled over his words, hand scratching the back of his neck. “I, uh…”

Rey immediately knew what he was struggling to articulate. 

“Phillip Altman. Have you never given a girl head?” 

He looked everywhere but her. “It was...never a priority?” He said sheepishly. 

She somehow wasn’t surprised in the least. “Of course not,” she snorted back. She realized her hands were still over his pants. She started to withdraw them, only to have Phillip grab one of her wrists with his good hand. 

“Baby, I’m going to do right by you. Every little thing. I want to taste you, so badly. I’ve definitely thought about it...a lot. Think about it this way. I’m a new man.  _ Your man.  _ You can mold me to whatever you want.” He leaned back down, kissing his way to her collarbone. “Please let me,” he breathed, coming back up to whisper it in her ear. She shivered and answered him with a nod. 

“Take those pretty leggings off for me, gorgeous. I want to see you.” 

She pushed on his chest with one hand, moving him back a couple of steps. She walked away from him, and he actually whimpered. 

“Where are you going?”

“Shh. Patience, young padawan.” She moved to the front of the store, closing the blinds to the windows facing the street, and locking the door. She waltzed back to him, a small smile on her face knowing he was taking her all in as she teased him and made him wait. 

She took her time, finally back in front of him. The Spotify playlist had long since stopped playing, and the silence between them was charged and full of infinite possibilities. Her thumbs hooked into the waistband of her leggings, slowly shifting them down her legs, accompanied by her panties in one fell swoop. She pulled them all the way off, kicking them off to the side. 

Phillip just stared, taking her in, eyes alight with wonder. 

“Holy fuck, Rey.” Was all he managed to get out. She thought he would just stare forever, and she started to squirm under his scrutiny, when he repeated his action from earlier, wrapping his arm all the way around her waist and lifting her, this time to sit her on the counter. Her legs naturally spread so that he could stand between them. 

He enveloped her mouth again, seemingly forgetting his intended designation, hands roving over her breasts again as he devoured her mouth. He released her, moving down to leave open-mouthed kisses on one of her tits, over her clothes. 

“You certainly like those, don’t you,” Rey joked, her laugh turning into a moan as he nipped at her through her shirt. He straightened up, not answering her question. 

“Lean back.” He instructed, and she complied, resting her weight on her elbows and looking up at him. He put his arm underneath her back, lifting up and shifting her a little further back on the counter. He then lifted her legs, one after the other, so her feet were too on the counter. Her legs were spread, on full display for him. 

“Rey. You are. The most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen.” 

With that, she lost sight of him as he knelt down so that his face was level with her cunt. And without any warning or preamble, pulled her clit into his mouth and nipped. 

“Ahh,  _ fuck _ Phillip!” She grappled for his face, pushing him away. 

“What? What did I do wrong?”

His puppy dog face popped up above the counter to meet her eyes, and she took pity on him. She laid her head back down, a soft  _ thunk  _ on the counter surface. 

“You can’t just go straight for the goods. You gotta...explore. Start slow. Be  _ gentle _ at first.” 

Phillip nodded, his face solemn. His eyes moved from her face back to her sex, and he brought his thumb to caress her lips up and down repeatedly. “I pride myself on being a fast learner, gorgeous,” he said, almost absentmindedly as he watched his thumb trace back and forth along her slit. 

Rey let out a breathless laugh and bit her lower lip. “Try blowing on it,” she instructed, her head still on the counter gazing up at the ceiling. 

Phillip, eager to please, used his hand to spread her lips beneath him. He lowered his head at an agonizingly slow pace, breathing over her center before obeying Rey and blowing a steady stream of air on the tiny bundle of nerves. He heard Rey groan, and he smiled to himself. He could slow it down, he could tease. 

He blew on her clit a couple more times, her squirms giving him great pleasure at each one. He retreated slightly, keeping her lips spread but moving to kiss at her inner thigh. Rey groaned, and a low laugh fumbled through him as he continued kissing a path around everywhere but her center. 

“You learn  _ too  _ fast,” she remarked. “I need you to touch me now, Phillip.” His name from her mouth was almost reverent, needy, and he found he couldn’t really wait any longer to taste her. Her wetness had coated his fingers as he was holding her open for him. 

He finally relented, and the flat of his tongue licked a wide stripe from the bottom of her cunt all the way to her clit. He repeated that motion a couple of times, enjoying the little sounds coming from Rey each pass. 

He switched tactics, kissing and licking through her folds while stubbornly avoiding her little nub, knowing it would tease her. Her hands moved to grab his hair, and he felt his erection hard against the inside of his jeans as he continued his ministrations. 

“More,  _ please _ ,” he heard Rey moan, and he was happy to oblige. 

“I’m gonna fuck you with my tongue baby,” he responded, and before she could say anything his tongue was buried in her heat. His hand left its spot holding her open and traced up and down her inner thigh, wishing he could mirror the motion with his other hand. 

Rey whimpered, her hold on his hair tighter as she pulled him ever closer to her center, begging for more. His tongue licked up inside her, curling and twisting and Rey couldn’t get enough. 

He withdrew his tongue to a small sound of protest from Rey. He moved his tongue up, swirling circles around her clit and chuckled, the vibrations of his laugh making Rey grip him even tighter. He still avoided actually touching her  _ there _ , and she huffed out a breath. 

“ _ Phillip _ …stop teasing!” She said, but he knew he was doing it right. He swirled around her clit a couple more times, to protested sounds from her, and then finally took her nub into his mouth and sucked. She keened, lifting her hips up to grind into his mouth, and he took his good arm and placed it on her stomach to hold her still. 

He continued alternating between sucking and licking, between her folds and her sweet spot and treasured each and every sound that came out of Rey’s mouth. He groaned into her cunt, and her hips responded accordingly to the additional vibrations. 

He couldn’t believe he’d never done this before. Hearing her mewls, feeling her nails rake against his scalp, and tasting how sweet she was, he knew he could eat her out forever. 

“Phillip…” she moaned again, and he knew she needed more. He had brought her to the edge several times, edging her each time and she groaned in frustration. 

“I got you, gorgeous.” He said and lifted his hand from its spot on her stomach. He was frustrated by his limited mobility, having one arm completely immobile against his side. He wouldn’t be able to restrain her for what he had planned next. 

He slid one finger into her center, and her hips bucked again. 

“Fuck,” he said with amazement, groaning at the feeling of her pussy walls clenching around his finger. He slowly pumped his finger in and out of her, relishing the feeling of her and treasuring the whimpered moans coming from Rey’s mouth. He could live and die at this altar, if she let him. 

He swiftly added a second finger, giving a moment for Rey to accommodate the stretch, and scissored his fingers inside her. 

“Phillip, oh my god oh my god  _ please _ ,” Rey babbled incoherently, grinding her hips against his fingers. It spurred him on, and he brought his mouth back to her clit while he fucked her with two fingers. 

She keened again, hands searching for purchase and her legs coming to squeeze his head. 

“I—I—mmm,” she breathed out, unable to form words, while his tongue flicked and licked at her cunt while his fingers pulsed in and out of her body. He quickly added a third, her slick everywhere allowing easy access, and pushed all the way in and curled his three fingers towards her inner wall, and enveloped her clit in his mouth and repeated his initial motion, sucking with a small nip. 

The two actions pushed Rey over the edge, and she came with a loud, lewd moan. “Fuuuuck Phillip,” she moaned. He worked her through her orgasm, releasing her clit and slowly pulling out to caress her outer lips. He took his tongue and licked one last stripe from her entrance to her clit. 

“You taste so good, gorgeous.” He stood up and bent over to kiss her soundly, her arms coming up around his neck to taste herself on his tongue. 

“And you’re a fast learner,” she quipped back, breaking their kiss and staring into his eyes. “Now move so I can get up.” 

Phillip stood back and lent a hand to pull Rey up to a sitting position, and she hopped off the counter to put her leggings back on and clean up where she had leaked on the counter. She noticed the bulge in Phillip’s pants and smirked slightly. He had been watching, slack-jawed as she put herself back together, enamored by the woman in front of him. 

She came up, raised up on her tiptoes and gave him a chaste kiss and palmed his length. 

“Think you can take care of that on your own, big boy?” She laughed and turned around to gather her stuff. His cock twitched at her touch, and he knew he wouldn’t make it home without taking some action. 

“You wanna watch, gorgeous?” He replied, the corner of his mouth lifting up in a smirk to match hers. 

“I’m late meeting Rose. Better luck next time?” She winked at him, and he reluctantly followed her outside so she could lock the door. She gave him another quick kiss and set off towards her car. He watched her retreating figure, and once she had pulled out of her parking spot he made a beeline for the shop. 

Safely in the employee bathroom of the Altman Sporting Goods store, he took himself in hand, all the while thinking of how Rey felt, tasted, and smelled. He had never been so far gone so fast for someone, and it changed his entire outlook on life. He had always been happy with his lifestyle; he never felt anything was missing. He was having fun, having great sex, but nothing compared to what he just did with Rey and she hadn’t even touched him. 

He came with a jolt, his spend shooting around his hand as he came to the realization that he was in love with Rey. And would do whatever it took to convince her of it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come yell at me on twitter or tumblr at here4thereylo!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey and Phillip enjoy a little _ Netflix and Chill. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It has been awhile since we've visited these two!! I have a clear idea for the end and a desire to finish in January so hopefully I can make good on this promise. It is unedited and un-beta'd because I fly by the seat of my pants these days with my work schedule (Thursday evening and I've already worked 47 hours WEEE) so apologies for any mistakes!!
> 
> This chapter is....primarily smut. Sorry not sorry.
> 
> Lovely moodboard is by [shuhannon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/shuhannon)!!! I also yell at her and Kaybohls ALL. THE. TIME. about ideas. love you <3

The trial basis was going swimmingly, in Phillip’s opinion. It had only been three days, but he was convinced.

He’d taken her out to eat every day on their lunch break, kissed her sweetly every time they parted ways. They texted constantly, and he’d even gone so far as to delete all the phone numbers he’d had from other women “in his Rolodex,” as Rey has called it.

He was whipped.

Rey was a delicious, infuriating tease. She always kept herself just out of reach of whatever Phillip wanted. It exhilarated him. Never before had a woman challenged him, in any way. She challenged his mind, his patience, his body.

He hadn’t touched her, tasted her, since that day in the bakery where she had let him in after too long dancing around each other. When she’d given him a chance. He’d hadn’t masturbated this much since he was a teenager, she was so tantalizing.

He had left the sporting goods store at six p.m. sharp and moseyed on over to the bakery where he knew Rey would be finishing closing up the shop for the night. He knew her schedule now, too. The nights she closed, the days she went in early to bake the bread, her days off.

He was like a damn puppy following her around.

Like clockwork, as he stepped up to the storefront, she was exiting, locking the door behind her. She turned around and beamed at him, rising up to her tiptoes to give him a quick peck on the lips. She grabbed his good hand, and they walked hand in hand down the sidewalk to Phillip’s Porsche. Rey had suggested ordering a pizza and spending the evening watching something on Netflix or Amazon Prime. 

Phillip was no fool. He knew what Netflix and chill meant.

He rushed to open the passenger side door for her, and she flashed him a coy smile as she climbed into the sports car. “Such a gentleman today, Phillip,” she joked, helping him shut the car door once she settled in. He ran around to the other side, jumping over the door and into the drivers’ seat, not having bothered to put the top up when he’d pulled in that morning. 

He maneuvered the car with ease, despite his left arm still being stuck in a cast. He would be in it one more week, and Phillip was counting down the days until he had use of all his limbs again. Rey placed the order on her phone while they were driving, a pleasant silence surrounding them as they listened to the sounds of the revving engine and the wind rushing past them as they sped off. Phillip found himself resting his hand on Rey’s knee, her thigh, running along her shoulder any time they were at a red light. She rolled her eyes but looked over at him and smiled each time, enjoying the little intimacies as they rode together to her house.

The pizza arrived only ten minutes after they’d gotten settled on the couch at Rey’s apartment. This dinner date was different from their first in every way; they were casual with each other, no expectations, no smooth operator fronts or playboy one-liners. Phillip made Rey laugh, and his heart sung at the sound. 

She put her slice back on the plate on the coffee table, wiping her hands off on the napkin to grab for her beer.

“Oh hold on, gorgeous, you’ve got a little…” Phillip trailed off, snorting at the streak of pizza sauce Rey somehow got on the side of her lip. She put the beer down and looked at him with wide doe eyes. He stared at her mouth, and she darted her tongue out to swipe at the spot he was staring at. She managed to get a little, but mostly just spread the spot around further. She raised her hand to wipe it off, but his good hand shot out to grab her wrist.

“Let me,” he said with a smirk and a wink. 

“Phillip you are not as suave as you think you are--” she joked, and got cut off as he closed the gap to kiss her full on the lips. He released her mouth, moving to the side to lick the sauce off her face at an agonizingly slow pace. She squirmed and huffed at the tease, her hand still in his grasp. Her other hand was free, and she brought it up to clutch him by the chin and move his mouth back to hers, delving his tongue into his mouth. 

The pizza lay forgotten as their tongues danced together in a passionate tango, and before Rey knew it she was straddling Phillip, his hand on her ass and hers in his hair as she ground down onto him. Both were emitting small sounds, neither willing to break apart as Phillip devoured Rey’s mouth.

They broke apart, panting, and Rey took her position to her advantage and started leaving kisses down the column of his throat as he groaned.

“I can’t wait to get this fucking cast off next week,” Phillip groused. “I want to do so many things to you right now.” 

Rey hummed in approval, making her way back up to his lips to claim them again. She continued to grind against him, and he repositioned his hand from its spot on her ass up to cup her breast, massaging the soft flesh and eliciting small mewls from Rey as their lips remained locked. 

He was incredibly hard underneath his jeans, and as the seam of Rey’s jeans scratched against his length as she rolled her hips, he bucked his in an involuntary jerk. She released his mouth then, placing a hand on each of his shoulders and holding herself over him, looking down at him as he leaned his head back against the couch to meet her eyes. She bit her lip, and smirked as she gave another experimental roll of her hips, and he groaned in appreciation, giving her breast another squeeze.

“Looks like someone’s pleased with how the evening’s going,” she quipped, lifting up completely off him to taunt him.

“Fucking tease, Rey. Take pity on an incapacitated man,” he whined. He took her position elevated above him to slide his good hand in her leggings, underneath her panties, to slide a finger up and down her slit. She bit her lip again, closing her eyes as his finger ghosted over her center, barely applying any pressure. She tried to grind against his finger, and he withdrew his hand completely from her leggings.

She whimpered, eyes opening to glare at him.

“Two can play at that game, gorgeous,” he said with a wink. She felt so good though, only after a few seconds of them staring at each other he couldn’t resist any longer and resumed his playful exploration. He slid his hand back down her leggings while she remained suspended above him, knees on the couch on either side of his thighs.

“So wet already, love,” he cooed at her, and she rewarded his words with a breathless moan as he slid one finger into her heat. He pumped slowly in and out, enjoying the feel of her warmth, how tight she felt around his finger. “Your pussy is so tight, Rey.”

”MmmmPhillip,” she moaned, hips rocking to meet the movement of his fingers. He effortlessly slipped a second finger in, stretching her in preparation. 

“I’m gonna fuck you tonight, Rey,” Phillip said in a low, dangerous tone, sending a shiver up Rey’s back at the promise.

“Can you...handle...me...in that thing?” She asked breathlessly, nodding to the cast that rendered his left arm practically useless. His only response was to use his thumb to start to circle her clit while his fingers increased their insistent pace inside of her. 

“Trust me, love, cast or no cast I’m going to rock your world.” He curled his fingers inward to drive his point home, and her grip on his shoulder tightened, nails digging into his flesh as she gasped at the sensation. He teased her then, stopping the movement of his thumb and slowing his pace, edging her away from her orgasm.

“Cocky bastard,” she groaned, dropping her head to his shoulder. He took mercy on her, resuming his steady pace and sliding a third finger, just like he did that day in the bakery.

“Shit, baby, you can barely take my fingers,” he marveled at the stretch as he worked her, beginning to pump his fingers faster and faster as she accommodated him. Her legs began to shake, still holding herself above him, hips grinding down on his fingers as he finger fucked her, finally bringing her over the edge, her orgasm coursing through her. 

He removed his fingers, sucking on the digits to clean them off, savoring the flavor of Rey as she melted into his lap, no longer able to support herself. She caught her breath and surged up to kiss Phillip soundly on the mouth, tasting herself on his tongue and feeling somehow even more aroused by it.

“You learn fast, loverboy,” she teased, ending the kiss with two quick pecks. He smirked at her.

“My turn.”

She scrambled off him, eagerly pulling down her leggings and underwear at his words. She saw the hungry look in his eyes, and slowed down to tease him as she disposed of her shirt with an agonizing slowness. His eyes devoured her as she eventually deposited both her shirt and her bra onto the floor where her leggings sat. 

She stood there, on display for him, and he drank her in. 

“Perfect,” he murmured, reaching his usable hand up to trail a soft touch from her collarbone, over her perfect tits, down her flat expanse of toned stomach to the apex of her thighs, feeling her arousal again on his fingers. The touch sent Rey into a heady state, and she whimpered, needing more. 

“Wanna help me get these off, gorgeous?” He asked her, grinning wickedly. 

It set her into motion. She knelt down on the ground in front of him, settled between his legs. She grabbed the waistband of his jeans, working the button and zipper until it came undone and she pulled his cock free. She gave it a few experimental pumps, and licked a stripe from his base to tip, easing just the head of him into her mouth. 

He grunted, immediately fisting his hand in her hair. She popped off him, smirking up at him as she pumped him a few more times. 

“I’ve gotta admit, I’ve been thinking about doing this again,” she said and then returned her mouth to his length, taking a little more of him each time she bobbed her head. 

“Fuck,  _ Rey,  _ how are you even real?” He marveled, guiding her head up and down and trying to keep himself from thrusting up into her. 

She continued to take him with an enthusiasm he’d never really experienced in all his casual flings. He felt the pressure of an oncoming orgasm begin to build and he pulled Rey off him. She released him with a pout, and he swore if he hadn’t already been head over heels for this girl, he was now. 

“Baby, you feel  _ too good _ , I won’t last if you keep..ahhh” he broke off as she picked up where she left off with her hands, stroking his cock up and down, squeezing at the base to apply extra pressure. 

“You were saying?” She said, her voice full of mirth as she looked at him with too innocent eyes, a twinkle of mischief indicating she knew exactly what she was doing. 

His eyes darkened, full of heat. He was done with the teasing. He was ready to be inside her. 

“Condom. In my wallet.” He said, voice low and gravelly.

She stood slowly, bracing herself on his thighs to help her up, and she leaned in to kiss him. He tasted his precum on her tongue and was ready to deepen the embrace when she broke them apart. 

“No condom. I’m clean if you are, and I’m on the pill.”

He tried not to come on the spot from her words. 

He growled, the animalistic sound ripping from deep in his throat, and Rey sprung into action again, pulling his jeans down with the help of him lifting his hips off the couch. She yanked them down, with his briefs, and they too joined the pile of discarded clothes on the floor. 

She crawled back onto the couch, straddling him, one hand scrunching up his shirt higher up his torso. 

“Leave it.” She looked at him and he shrugged at his cast. 

She obliged, lining himself up with her entrance. She rubbed her length through her folds, coating him in her arousal, before slowly,  _ slowly _ sinking down onto him. 

Inch by inch, she lowered herself until he was seated fully inside her, and she let out a breathy sigh. She set her forehead against his, taking a deep breath as she adjusted to the fullness. 

“You feel so damn good, Rey,” he breathed, capturing her lips with his as he swallowed her sighs. She kissed him back with fervor, giving an experimental roll of her hips and they moaned in unison at the delectable feeling. 

She began to move, using his shoulders again for leverage and his good hand on her hip as she began to ride him in earnest. 

She bobbed up and down on his cock, throwing her head back and leaning into the feeling of fullness and ecstasy. His length reached places inside her that had never been reached before, and she keened at the feeling. 

He couldn’t stop staring at her gorgeous tits, and leaned in to capture one in his mouth. She slowed down her pace, grinding her hips down on him so that he could lick and nip at one breast, then the other, giving both equal attention. The sensations she felt, being filled to the brim and the feeling of his mouth on her all at once sent a pulse through her and she clenched around his cock. 

He growled again, relishing in the feeling of her inner walls clamp around him, trying to bring him in deeper, not let him go. He released her breast, encouraging her to move again, and she began to pump up and down on him again. He was quickly losing control, thrusting his hips up to meet her every time she crashed down on him. 

He felt her fluttering around him again, and he knew he wasn’t going to last much longer either. He moved his hand from her hip to where they were joined, thumb circling the hood of her clit. She panted in delight, mouth dropping open as she careened towards her climax, stilling on top of him as her orgasm overtook her and she came undone around his cock. He continued to thrust in her, jerky movements up into her without rhythm or control as he chased his release, grunting loudly as he spilled into her, both of them breathless. 

She rested her forehead back against his, and they basked in the afterglow, eyes closed and catching their breath. The minute they stopped panting, he enveloped her mouth with his to give her a bruising kiss, snaking his hand around her back to pull her flush against him, his cast scratching against her belly. 

They sat like that, him still fully sheathed inside her and kissing for several minutes before she finally lifted herself off him, feeling bereft when he was no longer inside her. She could feel some of his cum leaking, and the thought of his spend inside and on her almost made her wet again. 

Phillip was staring at her, apparently with the same idea.

“Give me a few minutes, gorgeous, and I say we try that again.” He smirked at her, a lopsided grin and playfulness in his eyes. She matched his expression, not bothering to hide her grin. 

“I think we can arrange that,” she winked. She sat beside him, swinging his legs over his lap and brought her head down to kiss him again. 

His good hand pushed her legs apart, shoving the one effectively off the sofa so he could have easier access to her cunt. He played with her folds, slowly, teasingly, spiking her arousal as they kissed. 

He ended their kiss, still teasing her folds as he looked into her eyes. 

“Come meet my family,” he blurted. 

“Yeah?” She asked, slightly breathless as he slipped a finger inside of her, curling it inwards to brush against the inside of her clit. 

“Yeah,” he repeated. 

“Okay.” 

He surged forward again, attacking her lips with his and circling his thumb around her clit. He withdrew suddenly, and then grabbed her around the waist, standing up abruptly and carrying her one-handed into the bedroom. 

True to his word, he was ready for her again in a few minutes, and they fucked again in her bed, experimenting new positions he could manage with one hand. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Twitter/tumblr is here4thereylo!!! Come talk to meeee <3


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey finally meets the Altman clan, and it's somehow everything she expected and more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...I may have upped the chapter count. _ whoops sorry not sorry _
> 
> Thank you Shannon for my beautiful moodboard, I'm never making my own moodboards ever again because of the talent of others!!
> 
> Also as with this entire fic pretty much it's basically unedited and un-beta'd so I'm sorry in advance for typos or errors!

Rey stared out the passenger window, wringing her hands together and biting her lip with worry.

They had been circling the block of Phillip’s mom’s house for the last six minutes, each time Phillip slowing in front of the house, and then driving off again at Rey’s vehement shake of her head.

After the eleventh circle around the block, Phillip stopped the car in front of some random house, throwing the car in park.

“What’s wrong, gorgeous?”

Rey looked at him, worry shining in her eyes as she continued to wring her hands together.

“What if they don’t like me?” She squeaked out. Phillip couldn’t stop the laugh that came from him.

“Oh Rey, that should be the last thing you’re worried about. I’m worried about _ you _ not liking _ them _. You are going to dazzle them. They already like you more than they like me and they haven’t met you yet.” He brushed a soft hand through her hair, moving a strand away from her face. 

She cracked a small smile at the reassurance.

“You know...you know how much belonging to a family means to me,” she whispered, almost nervous to articulate the words out loud. 

He did. They had shared so much stuff over the last couple of months, including their insecurities. He was never the kind of guy to get into deep shit with other people; he was a casual, surface level guy.

Rey changed that all for him in the blink of an eye. 

He had never cared much for girls’ feelings. Didn’t matter if they were his sister’s, his mom’s, or any girl he’d dated in the past. If it was too touchy-feely, he was out.

He ran a hand through her hair again and landed to grasp her chin gently in his hand, turning her to look him in the eye. Her eyes were shining, keeping the tears at bay, and she cleared her throat and blinked rapidly as she looked up at him.

“Rey, you have nothing to worry about. They are going to love you _ immediately _. But--”

“But?” She echoed him, a slight tremor in her voice. His heart burst at her self-consciousness, wanting to just pull her in close and never let her go. He swallowed that down, the strong feeling overcoming him. He thought that very much felt like the L-word, and he wasn’t ready to tackle that in his brain at the moment, no matter the reality of what he knew he felt for Rey.

“But, gorgeous, I have to warn you. They are _ batshit crazy _. So just...be warned.” She giggled at that, a small sniffle and another quick blink as she smiled and nodded at him. He ducked down to give her a soft kiss that made her feel like she was the most treasured girl in the world, and he put the car back in gear and finished their lap around the block, finally pulling up for good in front of the Altman family home.

Within seconds of crossing through the front door, Rey knew exactly what Phillip was talking about.

Two boys were wrestling in the foyer, neither over the age of ten. The younger one was screaming while the other, who had the smaller boy pinned to the ground, was whispering “don’t tell mom, shh don’t tell mom you’re fine.”

*Further behind the boys were a cacophony of voices drifting their way from further in the house, punctuated by sporadic shouts of interruption. Rey looked up at Phillip briefly, who nodded once, and they skirted around the wrestling boys, hand in hand to the dining room. 

Annie, Paul’s wife, was the first to spot them. 

“Oh my god look at you!” She yelled above the din, shuffling over to the couple with her arms outstretched. She crushed Rey into a suffocating hug, Rey dropping Phillip’s hand in order to reciprocate. 

“Umm...thank you?” Rey managed to squeak out. Annie released her, smoothing down her shirt and taking Rey in. 

“Sorry sorry! I’m Annie. It’s so nice to meet you, Rey. I've heard so much about you!”

“You...have?” Rey asked in disbelief. She turned her head to consult Phillip, who was studiously ignoring her, instead acknowledging Judd with a nod of his head. 

Annie herded Rey further into the kitchen, effectively separating her from Phillip and taking her over to where Annie had been standing with Wendy and Penny. The men had naturally drifted off to the other side of the dining room, and Phillip assumed a spot in between his brothers. 

“Rey do you want anything to drink?” Wendy asked as Annie brought in to close the circle. 

“Whatever wine you have looks great, actually.” Wendy winked at that and walked away, coming back a handful of moments later with a large wine glass filled with Riesling. Rey gratefully took a sip, relieved to have the sweet libation coat her throat and loosen her nerves. Which, it turned out, she needed immediately because the women surrounding her jumped right into an interrogation. 

“How did you guys meet?” Was Penny’s question right off the bat. 

“Oh, I have my bakery right door to the store, he came in a bunch…” she trailed off, not divulging the whole chase of how they got together. 

“Rey here played _ extremely _ hard to get,” Wendy piped up. Rey gave her a slightly incredulous look. How did she know that?

Wendy winked at her again and continued. “This girl right here might finally make our baby brother grow up.”

“Oh my god about time,” Annie giggled as she dipped on her water. 

Rey felt a little flare of irritation at that. Certainly, he had an…illustrious past concerning the women he’s dated, but she didn’t think that meant she was some hero of his virtue. She opened her mouth to interject but Wendy cut in before she could speak. 

“Yeah, I mean it in the best way! He’s come so far in the last couple years, I think that job Alan set up for him has helped. Enough about him, though he’s boring.” Wendy took a sip of her wine. “Tell us about yourself, Rey? Why a bakery?”

This felt like familiar territory. Rey fell into an easier conversation with them, keeping to safe topics about college and moving to Long Island. Her eyes flitted over to Phillip’s every now and again, his gaze meeting hers every time. They gave each other small reassurances each time their eyes met, and Rey felt a wave of courage (or was it the wine?) seep into her and she carried on with the women.

Phillip broke his eyes away from Rey’s to tune back in to whatever his brother was yammering on about. Alan slapped him lightly on the arm, gesturing wildly to Judd.

“Hmm?” 

“Jesus Phillip, stop making googly eyes at your girlfriend for two seconds, I’m trying to talk to you,” Alan snickered. “As I was saying, the days this guy deigns to come into the shop, it runs pretty great. Business is booming, our demographics are changing, it’s very promising.”

Phillip gave Alan the side-eye at the dig on his attendance. What did it matter? He was salaried, and Horry was so settled in his role there it made Phillip obsolete half the time.

Judd rubbed his hand across his chin. “You think your demographic change has anything to do with Phillip’s presence?” He joked, and Alan did a double take.

“Why on earth would those be correlated?” 

“I don’t know, maybe because he’s objectively attractive and women are going to come in to steal glances at the doof,” Judd rebutted. 

*Phillip wasn’t sure whether to smack Judd or hug him for the comment. On the one hand, it backed Alan off from pestering him about the store, but much like his wife, he quickly switched focus to Rey.

“So, Phillip, haven’t scared this one away yet?” Alan joked.

“This is different, dipshit,” Phillip retaliated. 

“You said that about Tracy, and you couldn’t hold onto her either. I’m surprised you haven’t moved on already, she must be holding out on you or something.”

“Dude, fuck, if I weren’t wearing this cast. You don’t fucking know what you’re talking about,” Phillip’s voice started to rise, earning a glance from the women across the room. Wendy’s sons picked that exact moment to start running wildly through the dining room, chasing each other and weaving between all the legs of the adults in the room.

“Boys! Keep it down, don’t make me put you guys in time out,” Wendy shouted across the room.

“Bro, I’m just saying you’ve got a track record, that surely isn’t a surprise to Rey right?” Alan said louder, over the screams of the children. Judd stood in between them, ever the peacekeeper, raising his hands to separate his brothers.

“Maybe we just need to calm down,” he offered, but Phillip, a full head taller than Judd, just gave Alan a scathing look.

“Maybe Alan just needs to stop being a dick,” Phillip countered, slapping Alan upside the head with his good hand. Alan made to hit him back, and was dodged by Judd forcibly moving him back two steps. Phillip’s eyes snapped over to Rey, who had disappeared from the little circle she was in. She must have heard Alan’s antagonism and had gotten overwhelmed.

Just then, Hilary, the Altman matriarch, walked out of the kitchen. “Wendy, Annie, can I get your help setting the table? Boys, calm down. We’re all adults here.” 

Phillip slipped out amidst the chaos and peeked in room after room, trying to find Rey. He finally found her hiding away in the laundry room, looking out the window and swirling the wine in her glass, her free hand wrapped around her middle.

“There you are, gorgeous,” he murmured, letting himself in the room and shutting the door behind him. She started slightly at the intrusion, but turned around and gave him a tight smile. She returned her gaze to the window, and Phillip sidled up to her, leaning against the washing machine.

“Talk to me, Rey,” he nudged her softly with his casted arm, jostling the wine slightly but not enough to spill.

She took a deep breath, and started to speak, though she didn’t look at him.

“Alan’s a dick,” she said humorlessly, finally turning to meet his eyes. Phillip huffed a small laugh, more of an amused whoosh of air than a real laugh, and shook his head minutely.

“That he is. You get used to him, eventually,” he attempted a bit of levity. She just cast her eyes down towards her shoes, taking a sip of her wine. 

“He hates me.” It was almost too quiet for Phillip to hear, but he heard.

“That’s absolutely not true, you can’t let yourself think like that.”

“I heard him, Phillip! I must be a damn idiot to give you a chance. You’ll use me and lose me. It’s why I didn’t want to go out with you in the first place, I knew that’s what you were like.”

“Hold the phone, Rey. Key word, _ were _ . I _ was _ like that. You already knew that. This isn’t a surprise.”

She didn’t say anything, just sniffled quietly to herself while she continued to stare at her shoes. Phillip took the silence as an opportunity to continue.

“Rey. Alan’s an asshole. He always has been. He’s jealous, probably. He’s always jealous.”

“So?”

“So, ignore the dumbass. He meant that as a dig towards me, anyhow. He thinks i’m the family fuckup. Hell, I _ am _ the family fuckup.” That got a small chuckle out of Rey. “Ahh, there’s that smile I love so much.” He kissed the top of her head.

“For what it’s worth,” she noted as she took another sip of her Riesling, “I don’t think you’re a fuckup.”

“Oh, I definitely was. But I appreciate the vote of confidence, gorgeous. I think there’s a certain girl who helps with that.” He winked at her, and a cute blush colored her cheeks.

”I don’t know why I’m even letting it bother me,” Rey mused. “Normally I don’t care what other people think.” 

Phillip pushed off the washing machine, turning to stand in front of her, rubbing his hand up and down her arm in reassurance. She leaned into the touch, her eyes gleaming up at him. He lowered his forehead to hers, knowing his proximity and touch would help soothe her.

“I think it’s cuz you like a certain big doofus,” he teased, mouth close enough to touch hers.

“Maybe I do,” she teased back. “Maybe you shouldn’t be an asshole to your brother and he won’t be a dick to you.”

“Maybe that’s wishful thinking,” he joked, his voice getting impossibly lower. She put her wine glass down on the washing machine where Phillip sat a minute ago, and he helped her hop up on the dryer. He moved closer, stepping in between her legs as he kissed her chastely, arm circling around her back. She raised her hands to cup his cheeks, deepening the kiss and tracing her tongue along the seam of his mouth.

He opened for her immediately, heating up their embrace from innocent to passionate in an instant. He skated his hand from behind her back, slipping up her shirt and around the front to cup her breast through her bra, running a thumb over the clothed nipple and she released him with a chuckle, pushing his hand away.

“Not here, Phillip! Insatiable,” she said, humor back in her voice and smile back on her face.

“You tease,” he said, his smile matching hers. He kissed her again, a quick, sweet thing, and took a miniscule step back. “You good?”

“I think so,” she hopped off the dryer, grabbing her wine glass. “Don’t let me throw this at Alan, okay?”

“Can’t make any promises,” he quipped, one side of his mouth tugging up in a smirk. “He would deserve it.”

She rolled her eyes and pushed him playfully. He put his hand on his shoulder in mock pain, his eyes full of mirth as she goofed around with him in the small space. She turned around and walked out of the laundry room, turning around and winking at him before taking off. He let himself watch her leave, happy to have this incredible girl come and turn his life upside down.

He followed her out after a beat, and when they both arrived back in the dining room, everyone else had resumed seats around the dinner table.

“About time, Phillip, I was just about to send Judd off to find you,” Hilary ruffled her son’s hair as he sat down next to her, Rey on his other side. Judd shook his head no at that comment, and Phillip smirked in response.

Dinner went much smoother than the pre-dinner drinks, in Rey’s opinion. The ice had been broken, and she’d calmed her nerves enough that her true, charming nature exuded in every conversation she had. She fell into an easy rapport with Wendy, easily ganging up with her against Alan. The chaos from earlier hadn’t disappeared, in fact the volume of each conversation grew progressively louder. But instead of letting it overwhelm her, Rey participated and joined in the din, easily bickering with all of Phillip’s siblings as if she had always been part of the family. 

Phillip reached down and squeezed Rey’s knee during dessert, a comforting gesture. She turned to flash a brilliant smile at him, cheeks flushed from the heat of the conversation or the wine, he couldn’t quite tell, but it didn’t matter. She was radiant, and he had never been as happy as he was at that moment. 

He moved his hand higher up her thigh, and she narrowed her eyes at him with a wicked smirk on her face. His hand almost reached the apex of her thigh under the table, when her hand snaked under the table to push him back to a safe zone.

“Tsk tsk, bad boy,” she whispered mischievously. “Nice try.” She left her hand on top of his though, under the table, and they continued to look at each other for a beat too long. 

Too long because Alan chose that moment to whistle through his fingers at them.

“Oi, lovebirds. Wanna rejoin the rest of the normal humans? We were talking to you.”

“Fuck off, Alan,” Phillip quipped, not moving his eyes away from Rey’s.

“Language Phillip!” Hilary begged.

“Yeah, Phillip. _ Language _,” Rey echoed, not hiding her smile. Phillip gave her another look that sent a delicious shiver down her spine, and he finally looked towards Alan.

“You better watch yourself when I get this cast off next week.”

“Yeah yeah, keep hiding behind that argument,” his brother retorted goodnaturedly.

Rey insisted on helping Annie and Hilary with the dishes, and helped clear the table. She made her way to the sink, hands full of precariously stacked dishes, to put the leftovers into coordinated tupperware containers.

Phillip leaned against the entrance to the kitchen, watching Rey banter with Annie while they matched lids to containers for the side dishes. 

Wendy sidled up to him, resting against the opposite side of the doorway, and cocked her head in Rey’s direction.

“She’s too good for you,” she said softly, low enough for only Phillip to hear.

“I know,” was his only response.

“You gotta marry that girl.” 

“I know,” he echoed again. “She’s...yeah. I can’t fuck this up.”

Wendy turned to look at him then, getting closer into his personal space. “You better not. Or I’ll cut your balls off.”

“Holy shit, Wendy!”

She swiveled around and headed into the kitchen to help the others with the leftovers, but not before pausing to say to Phillip “I’m Wendy Altman, bitch.” He couldn’t help but watch her go, equal parts terrified and impressed by his sister.

She was right. He could not afford to mess this up. He kept watching the women, ignoring the jeers of the men in the living room. She fit in with his family like a glove, despite her initial nerves. She charmed them effortlessly, all the women smiling and laughing as they cleaned up dinner. 

Rey noticed his staring, and wiped her hands on her jeans. She sauntered over to him, wrapping her arms around his middle and resting her chin on his chest so she looked up at him.

“Hi,” she whispered to him.

“Hi, gorgeous,” he whispered back, and he leaned down and placed a featherlight kiss on her forehead. “All done?”

She smiled up at him, nodding in such a way that her chin rubbed up and down against his chest. He felt a foreign sensation as he looked down on her, a swell in his chest he couldn’t quite define.

“Follow me,” he spoke again, reaching around to untangle himself from her and grab her hand. They ascended the stairs, Rey stopping to look at the gallery wall on the way up. She stopped several times, pausing to admire the photos of the Altman family at various points in their lives. She lightly tapped on the glass of one of them mid-way up the staircase, a wicked smile on her face as she turned to glance and Phillip.

“I’m surprised you’ve let this one slide,” she joked, and he descended the couple stairs ahead he’d been to peer at the photograph in question. It was a prepubescent Phillip, complete with a smattering of zits across his forehead and nose. He was awkwardly posed with a skateboard in hand, his other hand lifted up in a thumbs up gesture. Somehow, his hair still looked as flawless as it does right now, and she took an opportunity of his close proximity to run her free hand through his locks.

He winked at her, resuming his ascent and tugging her along so she couldn’t make any other pit stops. 

He opened a door at the end of the hall, leading her into a small room. It had long been turned into a guest room, but Rey could see small marks on the walls where pieces of tape used to no doubt hold various posters for a teenage Phillip. 

“Your room?” She asked as he led her further into the room, and he turned and nodded as he walked her over to the bed, sitting next to her on the edge. 

“I know my family’s...a lot. It means a lot to me you were willing to sit through dinner with them,” he caressed her hand, never letting go of it, his thumb moving in small circles across her knuckles. She watched his movements, lost in the moment. 

“I had fun. After the initial panic,” she joked lightly. “Do you think they liked me?” She tried to hide the insecurity in her voice, but Phillip saw right through it. 

He extracted his hand from hers, only to cup her cheek and force her eyes up to meet his. 

“They loved you. Just like I predicted.” His eyes searched hers, delving straight to her soul to give her every reassurance he could. “I think they already consider you one of the family. Anyone who can handle Alan gets an automatic win in our book.” He smirked at her, and she returned his smile with a genuine one of her own.

His heart flipped again at her smile, like it had earlier that night. He would have to inspect those feelings later, when he was alone. He was drunk on Rey, always, and he realized he never wanted to be alone, not looking forward to when he would inevitably drop her off at her apartment. 

Maybe he loved her. He didn’t think he had loved anyone before. He almost blurted it out, surprised by his own realization. 

He kissed her then, soft and sweet. She returned his embrace eagerly, rushing to deepen the kiss when they jumped apart at the shouts from downstairs. 

“Rey sweetie! Phillip! Come get some leftovers to take home.” The shout no doubt came from Hillary. Phillip leaned his forehead against Rey’s, letting out a low growl to indicate his frustration at the interruption. 

Rey giggled, and gave him a quick peck before standing up and extending her hand for his. 

“Shall we?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just realized I rarely log into tumblr so i'm sorry if I've ever been delayed in responding on anything! I'm here4thereylo on both Twitter and Tumblr and I'm a chatty heaux!


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